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Nautilus
Nautilus is a city on the continent of Bath built from sea level up along the slope of Mount Seerskine at the foot of the Serpentine. It is a three tiered city, divided into the Lower City, the Middle City, and the Upper City, each built on a level platform of natural rock long since covered by buildings, estates, houses, shops, and cobbled lanes. Nautilus' form of government is an artistocratically-influenced monarchy and it is heavily influenced by guilds and tradesmen. Its current ruler is King Mycah Sheridan, the First of his Name, former court mage of the allegedly deceased Taenar "the Wolf King" Thorne. The economic system of Nautilus is a mix of serfdom and heavily taxed capitalism, serfs largely belonging to the fishing and agricultural sectors. Nautilus has no state religion. The territory of Nautilus extends from its city walls in three directions. It is comprised of the southern marsh and Nautilus Harbor beyond, the fields and farmland east of its eastern wall and up to the vast forests beyond, and west of the city up to and not containing the municipality of New Sterne or Old Sterne. A central stair as wide as a two lane street climbs up from the north-central edge of the Lower City to the Garden Plaza in the Upper City, connecting all three tiers of the city. Due to the outbreak of plague in the lower city, guards have recently been posted to keep anyone from entering the second and third levels of the city without documentation. In more peaceful times, the stair was a tolerated and popular gathering place for locales as an alternative to the Garden Plaza in the Upper City and Common Square in the Lower City. Popular Establishments The Tethered Brute Located off an alley and down a stairwell in the Market, the Brute is a drinking hole popular with people with an unpopular opinion. It's proprietor is Zhaladeen, otherwise known as "Sal" to the regulars, a moustachioed bartender and tinkering alchemist fond of discussing (and buying and selling) the latest in remedies and spirits. The Brute takes up the shared basement space of a keymaker and claims office. It is one large barroom with three longtables, a bar along the west wall, and thick, oak overhead beams from which antler chandeliers hang. Rumors suggest the Brute is the meeting place of various parties interested in the overthrow of the Grand Fal dynasty and a return to native governance. The Open Hand The Hand, located in the Upper City, is a three-story public inn and tavern that has been owned and run by the high elf twins Finnion and Serafina al'Faille, children of Alvondiel's noble couple Greyhawk and Kiata. It was built by a wealthy old sea captain in his retirement in times of old and has long since been a popular public house for those in the seafaring and mercantile trades, so long as they can afford the high prices. The Hand's first floor parlor and bar is shaped like a mushroom on its side, the bar in the side-laying cap and the curve facing south with a rounding, spectacular glass-panel view of the lower city, the marshes beyond its walls, and the linked but seperate docks, buildings, and ships of Nautilus Harbor on the sparkling Sea of Tempests. The second floor is a hall of cozy rooms, each equipped with a fireplace and furnishings. The third floor has three high end suites. A kitchen, pantry, and basement are all accessible off of a single door in the east wall of the bar, not far from the long, rounded-rectangle bar of dark-stained teak. The stair to the upper floors is near the heavy, fortified twin doors and a small alcove to the right of the door houses whomever is tasked with finding rooms for late-night stragglers.